Baby, Baby, Baby

Here are another few pictures (edited with the Picnik . . . LOVE IT!!)

From Sabrina

From Sabrina

From Sabrina

They Call Her Love

I have a new niece! Sabrina Anne Sortor was born late on a rainy Sunday evening (11:30-ish) in Logan. She's gorgeous, pink and healthy. Rebecca was less than thrilled at a natural childbirth, but she's much happier now that she has some good pain meds. I'll post more pictures when I can take some better ones. This will have to do. Congratulations, Sortor Family! I love you guys!!!

From Sabrina Anne

How 'Bout Remembering Your Divinity

I'm having a little lunch break at work right now, and I thought I should write about my day yesterday. It started pretty normally, with some PBS kids in the morning and Allen getting home around 10:45. I got ready, and drove to Provo to go to a "Financial Freedom Expo" (I had seen the commercial on tv). I'll admit that I'm a pretty easy sale. I part with money easily, which is probably why I don't have any. However, I decided that I was going to have a spending moratorium this week, and I told myself I wasn't buying anything. Well . . . to make a long story short, I did (is anyone really surprised by that?). It is a company called Better Trades and they teach you how to make money in the Stock Market. The cool thing is that it's all about education. There are some very smart financial gurus on their staff, and they do seminars and web classes and symposiums, etc. And if you don't make three times the cost of the tuition in six months, they will refund your tuition. That guarantee was the main selling point for me. Anyway, when I came home and told Allen about it, he wasn't too happy. I wasn't too happy with me either, but we talked. It was a good talk; the kind that makes you remember why you fell in love with that person. Allen is a good man, with a good heart. He wants to take care of us, and he works hard. I have been so focused on the short-term; I look at the dishes I have to wash or the bills I have to pay this week. He looks at how it will be good for Benji when I can stay home with him, so he's trying to start a consulting/networking home business. I haven't been fair to him, and I have forgotten how lucky I am to have a man who loves me, and who would do anything for me. I truly am blessed.

That's Just Who I Am This Week

There's a reason why I haven't written in a while. I have started writing in a notebook, just for me. It's stuff that I don't particularly want to put on the internet, and it has taken up most of my writing ability this week. I'm finally understanding why Sarah is such a faithful journal-writer. It is very helpful to 'download,' or just get all your feelings out on paper. This week was our four-year wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has been that long, but it also seems like it has been forever. I think we both forgot about it for the most part, being so busy with work and stuff. I even forgot to put it on my calendar . . . until the day before. I had hoped Allen would surprise me with something, so I didn't mention anything until about 10pm, when it became pretty clear he had forgotten. When I asked him if he knew what the day was and why I might be annoyed. Then he realized what happened. He didn't have any excuses, and I didn't want any. I just wondered why nothing really means anything to us anymore, like holidays. We don't really do anything special unless it's with my family; we're just trying to get through every day. We are in 'survival mode,' and we have been for some time. It's very wearing on me, and on our relationship. I know a lot of couples go through rough spots. And I know I should be less selfish and more forgiving. Life certainly isn't very easy right now, so I hope you all will forgive me for not keeping up the blog. I think I'm going to make my blog private again . . . it's just that I'm not very comfortable putting so much personal stuff out there for anyone to read. I know it can be a pain, but most of those who actually read this login to blogger anyway. So if you'd like an invitation to read my blog, please shoot me an e-mail. I'll change it over at the beginning of September so you can know what to expect. Thanks for being my friends, anyway. I love you all!

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Grandmother was in Logan for just a few days, but I had to work all week, and I was on-call all day Saturday. When I'm on call, I can't be more than 30 minutes away, or I get in Trouble (with a capital "T"). So we went to Logan on Friday, and Allen & I drove separately so I could go back Saturday night. We hung out in the front yard, ate some yummy Sam's Club pizza, and went to the Cache County Fair. Here are some pictures. This is another Picnik edit. I love this little picture! (Thanks for cleaning the window, Lex, or this wouldn't have turned out at all!) And Peggy--this one's for you.

Look At Me

I just discovered a REALLY cool photo editing site (much better than Picasa). I think I may have to upgrade to premium, but look what I did with the free stuff! Cool, right? I know! It's called Picnik. Very good stuff, and there will be more to come. :o)

This Is What It Sounds Like

I have been quite remiss in writing. Ever since my old camera bit the bullet, I just haven't felt really inspired. Yes, I do have the new camera, but I haven't had a lot of time to get to know it. Here are some of the new pictures; they should get better with time. This is the first shot with the new camera (Allen took it; I was at work). This was one of the first ones that I took. Not bad. Here are some random pictures from Pioneer Day weekend. Lily is a great subject for photos, although most of the time she moves too fast! Lily really should be paid for this product endorsement. Mia is so cute! Even though she can be a bit dramatic, she is such a sweetheart! So dainty! The many moods of Tessa-rooney . . . Gotta love the arm-rest. Here are some other random pictures from Pioneer Day weekend. Dad, looking suspicious as usual. Noah with Dave and the Phoebe-meister on Rebecca's shoulder Cute Granny and cute Mom! My fabulous friend Caroline, who is visiting from France, and who went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House and celebrated our 4-fer-birthday-bash with us. Sarah's glamour shot and our bracelets. And our sweet Phoebe. I love this tiny girl and her amazing family. On a total side note--have you ever seen Bowfinger? I just finished watching it on tv. It's hilarious! Seriously. I really need to finish this and go to bed. I'll try to blog more often so I don't have to play catch-up like this. Thanks for reading! :o)